Recommending media items

Abstract

This is directed to recommending media items of a user's media library. In particular, this is directed to transferring a portion of the user's media library to an electronic device so that the user may discover the portion of the media library. The library can recommend particular media items to the user using any suitable approach, including for example based on one or more preference profiles. The user can accept or reject recommended media items as they are played back to further adjust the user's preference profile, and to revise the selection of recommended media items stored on the device.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for recommending media items to a user, comprising:
 generating a media library, associated with the user, including the media items, the media items being owned, at least in part, by the user; 
 storing with an electronic device a first set of media items that is selected by the user for storage on the electronic device from a media library that is associated with the user; 
 storing with the electronic device a second set of media items that is recommended for the user based on at least one interest of the user from the media library the second set including media items of the media library not chosen by the user for storage on the electronic device; 
 playing back with the electronic device a first media item from the stored second set of media items; 
 receiving with the electronic device user feedback regarding the played back first media item; and 
 in response to the receiving, transferring with the electronic device an entirety of the played back first media item to the stored first set of media items from the stored second set of media items. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing with the electronic device the received user feedback to a host device to update a preference profile that is associated with the user. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the storing the second set of media items comprises:
 determining an amount of electronic device storage that is associated with recommended media items, wherein a number of media items in the second set of media items is based on the determined amount of electronic device storage. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the storing the first set of media items comprises storing the first set of media items in a first storage portion of the electronic device; 
 the storing the second set of media items comprises storing the second set of media items in a second storage portion of the electronic device; and 
 the transferring the first media item comprises moving the first media item from the second storage portion to the first storage portion. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the determined amount that is associated with recommended media items comprises an amount of storage of the electronic device that is allocated to recommended media items. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received user feedback comprises:
 an approval of the played back first media item. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the receiving comprises:
 receiving the user feedback during the playing back the first media item. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first media item comprises metadata; and 
 the transferring the first media item comprises modifying the metadata. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user feedback is at least one of whether the first media item was played back or skipped and a user ranking of the first media item. 
     
     
       10. An electronic device for storing media items for playback by a user, comprising control circuitry and storage, the control circuitry operative to:
 generate a media library, associated with the user, including the media items, the media items being owned, at least in part, by the user; 
 allocate a first portion of the storage to user selected media items that are received from a media library; 
 allocate a second portion of the storage to recommended media items that are received from the media library the second set including media items of the media library not chosen by the user for storage on the electronic device; 
 play back at least one media item of the recommended media items from the second portion of the storage; 
 receive a user indication that corresponds to the played back at least one media item; and 
 in response to the received user indication, transfer an entirety of the at least one media item to the first portion of the storage from the second portion of the storage. 
 
     
     
       11. The electronic device of  claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:
 provide the received user indication to a host device to update a preference profile of the user. 
 
     
     
       12. The electronic device of  claim 11 , wherein the received user indication comprises an approval of the played back at least one media item. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device of  claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:
 prior to receiving the user indication, prompt the user to select one of an approval option and a disproval option for the played back at least one media item. 
 
     
     
       14. The electronic device of  claim 10 , wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:
 receive the user indication during the playback of the at least one media item. 
 
     
     
       15. The electronic device of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the at least one media item comprises metadata; and 
 the control circuitry is operative to transfer the at least one media item by modifying the metadata. 
 
     
     
       16. Non-transitory computer readable media for recommending media items to a user, the computer readable media comprising computer program logic recorded thereon for:
 generating a media library, associated with the user, including the media items, the media items being owned, at least in part, by the user; 
 storing with an electronic device a first set of media items that is selected by the user for storage on the electronic device from a media library that is associated with the user; 
 storing with the electronic a second set of media items that is recommended for the user based on at least one interest of the user from the media library the second set including media items of the media library not chosen by the user for storage on the electronic device; 
 playing back with the electronic device a first media item from the stored second set of media items; 
 receiving with the electronic device initial user feedback regarding the played back first media item; and 
 in response to the receiving the initial user feedback, transferring with the electronic device an entirety of the first media item to the stored first set of media items from the stored second set of media items. 
 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the storing the second set of media items comprises determining an amount of electronic device storage that is associated with recommended media items; and 
 a number of media items in the second set of media items is based on the determined amount of electronic device storage. 
 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 17 , wherein the determined amount that is associated with recommended media items comprises an amount of storage of the electronic device that is allocated to recommended media items. 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the first set of media items is stored in a first storage portion of the electronic device; 
 the second set of media items is stored in a second storage portion of the electronic device; and 
 the transferring the first media item comprises moving the first media item from the second storage portion to the first storage portion. 
 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the first media item comprises metadata; and 
 the transferring the first media item comprises modifying the metadata.